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L. T. EARNHEART..

coMPREssED AIR VALVEAND GAGE.

lafenfed June 8,1919.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, IJIG.

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/NVE/vrof? Br @M W/ TNESSES:

ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT oiiEIoE.

LUCIEN T. EARNHEART, or INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, AssIcfNonTo SAFETY FIRSTDEVICES COMPANY, or INDIANAPOLIS., INDIANA, A CORPORATION.

CoMrnEssED-AIR VALVE AND GAGE.

Patented June 3, 1919.

Application mea my c, 1916. seriai No. 95,833.

To all whom t may. concern.'

f Be it known that I, LUCIEN T. EARN- HEART,-a citizen .of theUnited-States, and a resident of India-napoiis;` county of Marion, andIState of Indiana, have invented a certain new and usefulCompressed-Air. Valve' 'to theu'sual valve, which additional valve ispositively held closed when the tire is'not f being charged. ThisVabsolutely prevents any escape of air from the tire 'and in view of themeans for holdin never leak or become ine eotualby reason of wear. Onediiiiculty withthe old form of check Valve in said devices has alwaysbeen that it would become defective and leak. That is impossible withthe extra` valve which has beenvadded in hthe form of device shownherein. e"

Another feature of the invention consists in constructing saidadditional valve and associated parts so that it will be held closedafter the means 4for positivelylholding it closed has been released, bya spring which, however, will yield under high air pressurev 4so thatthe high'air pressure, whenl the air is turned into charge ,the tire,`will automatically o en thls additional valve. Another eature of theinventlon consists in mounting said additional valve yielding ,withinthe valve stem, the outer portion of said valve stem havingan enlargedport or chamber in it and the lower portion a nar` lrow passageway whichis closed at its outer end by said additional valve. The valve rod forsaid additional Valve has a 'passage extending through it excepting atits inner laterally before it reaches the inner end of said valve rodand in the-outer end of said valve member, the usual check valve islocated. -Ience, whenair is turned in throu h said valve rod, it' willenter-the chamber 1n the valve stem ,and below or inside of a piston onsaid valve' it closed, it willv rod and the pressure Of the air in thevalve stein actingon said piston will force said valve rod and valveoutwardly against the action of the spring and thus 'automatically opensaid additional valve.'

Another feature of this invention consists in marking on said valve rodor some part associated rigidly therewith, suitable gradu-A ations forindicating the air pressure within the tire. As said air pressureincreases, said forced outwardly farther and 4farther and thus saidgraduatio'ns are disclosed andthe valve and valve rod and pistonthereon, are

additional Valve and positively holding it closed.l

The full nature of the invention will be understood from theaccompanying draw- -ings and the following description and claims. l

In the drawings, Figure .1 is a central longitudinal section of said.device and a portion of the inner casing of a pneumatie'tire'V Fig. 2-is a side-elevation of they device and a portion of a pneumatic tireand wheel,

and a compressed air attachment at the outer endpof the device. Fig. 3is an elevation of the cap used for positively seating said additionalair valve. Fig. 4 is a side elevation 'of an automobile wheel equipped lwith said air valve and gage,

l In the' drawings' there is shown an automobile wheel with a wooden rimSa metal clencher rim T which 'may .be demountable, andan outer casing'Uof a pneumatic tire.

A valve stern A extends through an inner casing l?` of the tire,the'inetal clencher rim T and the wooden rim S of the wheel. At itsinner end said valve stem A is secured'to the inner casing by a headwithin the casing and by a washer O and nut N outside the casin Thevalve stein is externally threaded and 1s` secured to the rim ofthewheel-by a Washer R and nut Q, as seen in Fig. 2. Said Valve stem has areduced. air passage M through its inner portion and an enlarged 4airchamber B throughout the major and outer portion thereof. Said valvestem A Ais not threaded throu hout its entire length, but the.outerportion t ereof at A is free of external threads. A dust cap Vscrews upon the 'outer end of the .threaded portion of the valve stem inthe usual way. The outer end of the valve stem is internally threaded toreceive a sleeve H and the outer end of the sleeve H is externallythreaded to receive a valve closing cap D which screws thereon.

The additional valve L, heretofore referred to, closes the outer end ofthe reduced passage M and the inner portion of the valve stem A, as seenin Fig. l. It is the end of the valve rod B which is integral with anouter enlarged portion C, the two constituting one member which will becalled herein the valve member. The outer portion C of said valve rod Bhas an enlarged air passage in it and contains the usual check valve I.The valve rod B has a reduced air passage J through it for most of itslength, but before it reaches the inner end or valve end, it dividesinto two laterally extending outlets K so as to discharge into thechamber B near the inner end of the valve rod. The

inner portion of said valve rod B is eXter-,

nally threaded to receive a piston consisting of a'leather nut E, aleather cup F and a small metal nut Gr inside ofthe leather cupFclamping the cup between the nuts E and G. A spring X surrounds thepiston rod B and'lies between the nut E and sleeve H and tends'to closethe valve L against low pressure, b-ut it is weak enough to yield underhigher pressure and as the valve and valve rod yield, it uncoversgraduations, as shown in Fig. Q, on the valve rod above the valve stemand sleeve H and thus indicates the air pressure acting on the valve,particularly the baclrpressure from the tire while it is being charged.The numeral on the valve rod B which is nearest the sleeve H indicatesthe air pressure.

The operation is as follows:

The dust cap V is irst removed and then. the valve holding cap D. Ifthere is any air pressure in the tire then, it will force the vvalve Land valve rod outward as far as the spring X will permit, but no'air canescape because of the check valve l. Then the coupling W of tube 10 fromsome source of compressed air is secured to the outer end ofthe memberC, as shown in Fig. 2, and air under pressure is admittede lf there isno air pres- Sure and the valve L is seated, the incoming air underpressure will pass through the passage J in the valve rod B and issueinto the chamber B in the valve stem,between the piston E and the innerportion of the valve Stem and force the piston and valve rod and valveoutward and thus permit the air to go through the passage M into thetire'.

rlhe air is permitted to enter the tire until the pressure from the tireacting on the piston E and the valve L forces them outwardly so as touncover the graduated part of the valve rod B, as shown in FigQ, anduntil the desired air pressure is indicated.

Then the supply of air is cut od' and the tube l0 and nozzle W removed.The check valve l will for the time being prevent the air from escaping.The cap D is then put over the outer member C and forced inward andscrewed into place on the valve stem until it forces the valve L down onits seat. Therefore, said valve L will be held positively seated andclosed by the cap D. Then the '-.dust cap is put in place.

In this construction, therefore, there is no chance for escape of airthrough the air valve after the tire has been charged and it is alwaysprovided with a gage for indicatingthe air pressure and an additionalgage is unnecessary.

The invention claimed. is:

l. The combination of an air valve stem having a reduced air passagethrough the inner part thereof and the remaining portion thereof havinga chamber therein, a valve member having a valve rod reciprocable insaid chamber in the valve stem and provided with a needle valve on thelower end for closing the reduced passage through said valve stem, saidrod having an air passage longitudinally through it for the admission ofair and having laterally extending discharge passageways extending fromside to side of said rod, a 'piston on said valve rod above said lateraldischarge of the passageways through the valve rod so that the air,pressure in the inner end of the chamber in the valve stem will tend toforce said piston and valve rod outward and unseat the valve and admitair through the reduced passage in the valve stem, and means forreseating said valve rod and positively holding the valve in its closedposition.

2. The combination of an air valve stem having a reduced air passagethrough the inner art thereof and the remaining portion t ereof having achamber therein, a

valve member having a valve rod reciprocable in said chamber in thevalve stem and provided with a needle valve on the lower end for closingthe reduced passage through said valve stem, said rod having an airpassage longitudinally through it for the ad- 'inission of air and aCpassageway `extending laterally through sai rod and discharging intosaid chamber in the valve stem a distance above the needle valve at theend of the rod,A a piston on said valve rod above said lateralpassageways through the valve rod so that the air pressure in the innerend of the chamber in the valve stern4 will tend to force said pistonand valve rod outward and unseat the valve and admit air through thereduced passage in the valve stern, a

sleeve in the upper end of said valve stem, a spiral spring surroundingsaid valve rod and acting between the piston thereon and said sleeve forholding the valve closed against low pressure but permitting it to yieldfrom high pressure', and a cap adapted to screw on the outer end of saidsleeve for rforcing the valve rod inward in order to positively hold thevalve seated.

3. The combination of an air valve stem having a reduced air passagethrough the inner part thereof and the remaining portion thereof havinga chamber therein, 'a valve member having a valve rod reciprolcableinsaid chamber in the valve stem and provided with a needle valve on thelower end for closing the reduced passage through said valve stem andthe outer endo said valve member being enlarged, a passageway throughsaid valve stem, said passage way terminating in laterally vextendingpassage ways at a point a distance .beyond the inner end of the valvestem, a check valve in the outer end of the valve member, a sleeve intheouter end of the valve stem and surrounding the valve rod, a piston onsaid valve rod between said sleeve and the inner end of the air passagethroughthe valve rod, a spiral spring on said rod bet-Ween saidl sleeveand piston arranged to hold the valve closed against low pressure, butto yield from high pressure, and means associated with the Said valvestructure'for indicating by outward movement thereof lthe air pressurein the tire.

In witness whereof I have hereunto alixed my signature.

LUCIEN T. EARNHEART.

